Can Even High-Ranked Hospitals Get Better?

More Can Be Done
To Prevent Deaths,
New Study Suggests

Hospitals that receive high marks for coronary-bypass outcomes still may not be doing all they can to avoid preventable deaths from the procedure, a new study suggests.

A team of Canadian surgeons who reviewed 347 deaths from coronary-bypass surgery at nine Ontario hospitals found that 111, or 32%, of them likely resulted from lapses in established procedures and other preventable shortcomings.